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Coffee is an American pastime like football and barbecuing burgers. Most of us are not human without our first cup of Joe. But when it comes to coffeemaker design, we typically think … Italian. Or German. Wrong. Norway is where it’s at. Norway has a huge coffee culture; not the artisanal espresso brews that have swept our nation as of late, but black, classic filtered coffee. Cue Wilfa.

This Nordic electrical appliance company designs gorgeous coffee makers such as the Wilfa Svart Manuell. Winner of the Award for Design Excellence from the Norwegian Design Council, it is an object crafted – in cooperation with super barista and coffee connoisseur par excellence Tim Wendelboe – for pour-over style, manual hand-brewing. This process invites to slow down and be in the moment, because you pour the water over the ground coffee yourself. Even better, it doesn’t create as much waste as the popular pod and K-cup machines. The kettle holds 1.2 liters, and you can use regular Melitta filters.

If that’s too much effort on a bleary-eyed morning, check out Wilfa’s Precision Coffee Maker, an elegant automatic filter brewer. Aficionados of this award-winning coffee maker rave about its precision temperature and water control, and the fact that it brews a “coffee to the Golden Cup standard of the Specialty Coffee Associations of America (SCAA) and Europe (SCAE).” It’s available in sleek aluminum and stylish black. Learn more at www.wilfa.no and shop at www.williams-sonoma.com.

“I have spent a lot of time over the past 2 years together with Wilfa giving them feedback and teaching them about coffee. The first result was the manual brewer “Svart Manuell”, but that was meant as a teaser and a tool for the coffee geek to play with while we waited for the automatic version. There is a lot of technology and work put in to this pretty coffee brewer, and I think it looks awesome. It also brews really good filter coffee, but still you need to get your basics right like any other brewing techniques:

• Use traceable and freshly roasted and ground coffee of high quality
• Use clean fresh water with low mineral content (Tap water in Norway is perfect in most cases)
• Use precise measurements. I recommend 60-70g per litre of water depending on how strong you want it. Use a scale to measure.
• Make sure you grind the coffee to the right particle size. Too coarse will give you a watery and sour taste. Too fine will lead to bitter tastes.”

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“His built work gives economic opportunity to the less privileged, mitigates the effects of natural disasters, reduces energy consumption, and provides welcoming public space. Innovative and inspiring, he shows how architecture at its best can improve people’s lives,” according to Thomas J. Pritzker, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Pritzker Organization.

Aravena, the first winner from Chile, will be in the company of famous heads such as Jean Nouvel (2008), Rem Koolhaas (2000), Frank Gehry (1998), Oscar Niemeyer (1988) and I.M. Pei (1983). But since anyone interested in architecture can toss these luminous names about at a cocktail party, and even pair them up with their best-known works (Gehry equals Guggenheim Bilbao and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in L.A.; I.M. Pei did the landmark glass Louvre Pyramid in Paris), it is the less prominent picks, such as Aravena, whose names and work are elevated into the highest echelons and thus into the cultural dialogue at large.

The winner receives a bronze medallion, a certificate and a $100,000 grant. But aside from these tangible rewards, the effect of the prize on the architect is to cement their stature, akin to getting a star on the Walk of Fame or entry in the Hall of Fame. It’s these names that make it into history books and university courses that shape the landscape and future of architecture as a whole. While the prize has become under criticism for its lack of diversity and sexism (It took 26 years for a woman to be chosen, Dame Zaha Hadid in 2004.), this year’s choice is not a member of the old guard but belongs to a growing group of socially minded architects whose mission is to solve the global housing crisis. Alejandro Aravena’s firm focuses very much on social aspects, something he says is not taught at architecture school.

So the Pritzker this year is a choice one can applaud, a selection that validates the award’s relevancy, as it puts into high relief, though Aravena’s work, a pressing global issue; and reminds us that architecture is not reserved for a lofty elite but meant for all of us, down to the most disenfranchised. Alejandro Aravena Architects was founded in 1994, but he also heads Chilean architecture “do tank” Elemental, with its focus on social housing. As the jury wrote: “The role of the architect is now being challenged to serve greater social and humanitarian needs, and Alejandro Aravena has clearly, generously and fully responded to this challenge.

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The system comes in a wide variety of shapes now, as well.

“The revolutionary Fold Panels collection, which takes WOOD-SKIN’s patented technology to the next level, frees the 3-dimensional expression of the architect/designer’s creativity, transforming inspirations into concrete projects capable of generating previously unimaginable forms.”

More info at wood-skin.com.

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Then there’s the question of cost and how to estimate it, and the fact that most banks won’t finance such a non-mainstream endeavor. Everything you ever wanted to know about all aspects of building a straw bale home can be found at strawbale.com. There are online tutorials, videos and workshops.

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